Top image: Boris Design Studio Limited

Pinwu

The second edition of In Bed with Designers ended with a bang on May 11, pulling in over 2,000 visitors during the three-day affair. Organised by BuyMeDesign in collaboration with Le French May – and thus the theme “French Kiss” – the fair saw some 50 local and international designers set up shop over the first three floors of the Mini Hotel in Central. Far from being a deterrence, the thunderous rain only seemed to imbue the opening party on May 9 with an air of intimacy, as designers, collectors and all-round art aficionados huddled around the unique design pieces in the hotel lobby, while sipping on wine and feasting on canapes.

Keren Shiker

Most of the designers we talked to said that they relished the chance to meet with buyers and members of the press on a one-on-one basis. The fair also allowed the design products to be displayed in their ‘most natural’ (i.e. a home) environment.

Adele-c

Highlights included a range of chairs displayed at Adele-c’s booth. We were particularly enamoured with ‘Lina’, a sculptural chair with armrests forged entirely from solid ash.

Adele-c

Tsai Yi-cheng and Fanchiang Lan-Hsin, founders of Taipei-based design studio Tsai and Fanchiang, were first-time exhibitors. “We don’t aim to sell. We want to introduce our products to a wider audience.” Ranging from stools and cantilevered lamps to porcelain teacup sets, the duo’s design pieces meld traditional Taiwanese culture with western design sensibility. “Our larger furniture pieces appeal to a more international audience, so we expect them to [also] appeal to Hong Kongers,” Tsai adds.

Tsai & Fanchiang

Ben Cheng challenged our perception of steel with his Radian Chair. Fresh from nabbing an award at the Furniture Design Award in Singapore, the chair looked rigid from afar but was incredibly comfortable and flexible, due to a rib-like structure that places the individual bars radially.

Angels Designs

Other highlights included Tango’s whimsical pillows, Keren Shiker’s fleecy lamps, dienastie’s edgy sunglasses and Pinwu’s bamboo vases and lamps.

Pinwu

Arjun Rathi

The third edition of In Bed with Designers will take place at Taipei’s VVG Bed & Breakfast from 8 – 12 October 2014.